Masonry corner guide



Dec. 24, 1963 J. F. JONES msomw CORNER cum:

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 Filed Feb. 7. 1961 Jefferson F. Jones INVENTOR.

BY and WW0 3m Dec. 24, 1963 J. F. JONES msouay CORNER cum:

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 7. 1961 Fig 3 Jefferson F. Jones INVENTOR. m BY Qt! MW M.

Dec. 24, 1963 J. F. JONES 3,11 975 MASONRY CORNER GUIDE Filed Feb. 7. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jefferson E Jones 1N VEN TOR.

BY na v Patented Dec. 24,

3,114,975 MASQNRY CORNER GE Jefferson F. Jones, R0. Box 20142, Montclair Station, Denver, Colo. Filed Feb. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 87,634 3 Claims. (Cl. 3385) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in masonry corner guides, and the principal object of the invention is to enable brick masons to build an accurately straight corner of a wall without the use of a plumb and level at each brick course, thus saving time and improving workmanship.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of a corner guide including vertically elongated guides, upper and lower corner brackets for supporting the guides in place, and line holders which are movable vertically along the guides, such line holders being of a novel construction and including roller-equipped carriages in engagement with the guides.

Another important feature of the invention involves the provision of a vertical coursing tape holder which extends between the upper and lower corner brackets, and pointers provided on the line holders and movable over a coursing tape on the tape holder so that courses of brick may be laid in accordance with predetermined thicknesses of mortar therebetween.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simpi-lcity of construction, accurate and dependable operation, in its convenient adjustability, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will subsequently become apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a masonry corner guide in accordance with the invention, this view being taken from the inside or building side of the guide;

FEGURE 2 is an outside elevational view of the guide;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan View thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 4-4 in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line '55 in FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in de tail, the masonry corner guide in accordance with the invention is desi nated generally by the referenece numeral 1d and embodies in its construction a pair of transversely spaced, vertically elongated guides 12 which are preferably in the form of angle bars and are equipped at their respective upper and lower ends with an upper corner bracket 14 and a lower corner bracket 16.

The upper corner bracket 14 comprises, as is best shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, a V-shaped corner engaging member 1-8 formed with apertures 2t to receive suitable fastening elements 22 whereby the bracket may be secured to a corner of a wall or to studs in brick veneer construction 24. The member 1% is rigidly secured at the apex thereof to an apertured bar 26 which, in turn, is adjustably mounted by removable bolts 28 on one arm of a T-shaped plate 39. The latter is adjustably secured by bolts 32 to an angle bar 34 which is provided with slots 36 to accommodate the bolts 32, it being apparent from the foregoing that by adjusting the bolts 32 in the slots 34 the member 18 may be moved laterally and by adjustment of the bolts 28 it may be moved toward or away from the corner of the building, so as to properly fit the same. The bar 34 is adjustably attached to the guides 512 by pairs of screws 38, 4t which facilitate adjustment of the member 18 toward and away from the building corner by finer degrees than is facilitated by the bolts 28. The upper bracket 14 also includes a horizontal plate 42 which secures together the upper ends of the guides 12.

A pair of apertured ears or lugs d6 are provided at the upper ends of the guides 11-2 and extend therefrom in substantially parallel relation with convergent edges 44 of the plate -42, such ears or lugs being used for attachment of downwardly, diagonally extending braces (not shown) for supporting the corner guide when an existing building structure is not available for abutment by the member 18.

The lower corner bracket 16 consists of a plate 48 carrying a pair of mutually convergent corner engaging members 5d, the convergent edges of the latter being spaced apart as at 52 to provide a passage for an anchoring wire, hereinafter described. The plate 48 has rigidly secured to opposite side edges thereof a pair of open box-shaped sockets 54 which slidably receive therein the lower end portions of the guides 12 but may be locked in selected positions vagainst sliding on the guides by suitable set screws '56 with which the sockets 54 are equipped. Thus, the vertical distance between the corner brackets d4, 16 may be varied as desired by simply loosening the screws 56 and sliding the sockets 54 along the guides 12.

The aforementioned anchor wire is designated by the numeral 53 and, as shown in FIGURE 5, is used for anchoring the lower bracket 1'6 to the building foundation 69, one end of the wire being secured to the foundation, for example, by a nail 62. The other end portion of the Wire extends outwardly through the passage 52 between the two members 5i and is prom'ded with a loop which is positioned on an upstanding pin 62 of a keeper lever The latter is mounted on the bracket plate 48 by a bolt and lock nut assembly 66, and after the keeper lever 64 is rotated so as to tighten the anchor wire 58 as desired, the bolt and nut assembly 66 is tightened to lock the lever in place.

A pair of line (holders 70 are movable vertically along the guides 12, each of these holders comprising a carriage 72 having a pair of rotatable rollers '74 in engagement with the outer edge of the associated guide 12. The carriage 7:2 supports an elongated line holding member '76 which is slotted at 78 to accommodate :a bolt and nut assembly 8t) on the carriage, whereby the member 7s may be moved inwardly and outwardly relative to the carriage to suit the work. A pin 32 projects from the carriage 72 through the slot 78 of the member 76, the pin thus serving not only to prevent rotation of the member 76 about the bolt 80, but also serving as a pointer or indicator, as will be hereinafter described. The lines 34 are attached to the two holders 7d as indicated at 8-6 and after passing through notches 88 at the inner ends of the members '76, the lines '84 extend from one corner of the building to another to indicate where courses of brick are to be laid, as exemplified at 9%) in FIGURE 4.

Each of the holders 7% also includes a tension spring 92 which is attached at both ends thereof to the carriage 72 in such manner that it embraces the associated guide 12, thus frictionally retaining the holder in a set position on the guide. In addition, the carriage 72 is also provided with a clamp screw 94- for engaging the guide 112 and thereby varying the frictional engagement of the spring 92 with the guide, so that while the holders 7d are frictionally sustained in a set position on their guides, they may be raised or lowered as necesary during laying of the courses of brick.

The aforementioned pointers 82 coact with a suitable coursing tape which is fastened by pressure-sensitive adhesive, or the like, to a vertically elongated tape holder 93 which extends between the line holders 7i} and has its lower end connected to a Spring-preSSed eye-bolt 104) carried by the lower bracket plate 43. The upper end of the holder 93 is secured by a clamp screw 102 in a slotted block 104 provided on the plate 42 of the upper bracket 14, this arrangement being such that the holder 98 is kept taut to facilitate orientation of the pointers 82 with grad nations on the coursing tape 96. The tape is graduated in a conventional manner for various thicknesses of mortar between courses of brick as required for a number of courses to be laid up to a certain height, for example, to a window sill, plate line, et cetera. It will be apparent that the tape holder 98 is adjustable by setting of the screw 102 and also by facility of the spring-pressed eye-bolt 100, and the tape 96 itself may be applied to either the inside or the outside of the holder 98 for inner or outer corner construction.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation as shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A masonry corner guide, comprising in combination a pair of transversely spaced vertically elongated guides, an adjustable upper corner bracket attached to the upper ends of said guides, a lower corner bracket adjustably attached to lower end portions of the guides, a pair of line holders movable vertically on the respective guides, each of said line holder including a roller-equipped carriage engaging the associated guide, a line holding member adjustably connected to said carriage, and an elongated resilient keeper element connected at the ends thereof to the carriage and embracing the associate guide, a vertical coursing tape holder extending between the line holding members of said line holders, resiliently yieldable means connecting the lower end of said tape holder to said lower corner bracket, means adjustably fastening the upper end of said tape holder to the upper corner bracket, pointers carried by said line holding members and movable over a coursing tape on said tape holder,

and an anchor wire keeper adjustably mounted on the lower bracket. 1

2. In a masonry corner guide, the combination of a vertically elongated guide having at least one flat side surface, and a line holder movable vertically on said guide, said line holder including a carriage slidably engaging said flat side surface of the guide, an elongated resilient element having its opposite ends connected to spaced points on said carriage and frietionally embracing said guide whereby to retain the carriage in position on the guide, a line holding member provided on said carriage, said guide comprising an angle bar having a pair of flanges with free outer side edges, one of said flanges providing said one flat side surface and having said carriage in slidable engagement therewith, said resilient element extending around the other of said flanges and having its intermediate portion in frictional engagement with the free outer side edge of the latter, and a pair of vertically spaced rollers provided on said carriage and engaging :the free outer side edge of said first mentioned one of said flanges.

3. A masonry corner guide comprising a vertically elongated guide having a pair of angularly related surfaces, a line holder movable vertically on said guide, said line holder including a carriage slidably engaging one of said surfaces, said carriage including spaced rollers engaging the other one of said surfaces, means securing said carriage to said guide, and a projecting line holding member provided on said carriage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,965,216 Brown July 3, 1934 2,624,953 Newcomb Jan. 13, 1953 2,656,608 Craig et al. Oct. 27, 1953 2,672,691 Sears et a1. Mar. 23, 1954 2,855,681 Andrews Oct. 14, 1958 2,931,104 Taylor et a1. Apr. 5, 1960 2,932,897 Huber Apr. 19, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 608,213 Canada Nov. 8, 1960 

1. A MASONRY CORNER GUIDE, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED VERTICALLY ELONGATED GUIDES, AN ADJUSTABLE UPPER CORNER BRACKET ATTACHED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID GUIDES, A LOWER CORNER BRACKET ADJUSTABLY ATTACHED TO LOWER END PORTIONS OF THE GUIDES, A PAIR OF LINE HOLDERS MOVABLE VERTICALLY ON THE RESPECTIVE GUIDES, EACH OF SAID LINE HOLDERS INCLUDING A ROLLER-EQUIPPED CARRIAGE ENGAGING THE ASSOCIATED GUIDE, A LINE HOLDING MEMBER ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID CARRIAGE, AND AN ELONGATED RESILIENT KEEPER ELEMENT CONNECTED AT THE ENDS THEREOF TO THE CARRIAGE AND EMBRACING THE ASSOCIATE GUIDE, A VERTICAL COURSING TAPE HOLDER EXTENDING BETWEEN THE LINE HOLDING MEMBERS OF SAID LINE HOLDERS, RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE MEANS CONNECTING THE LOWER END OF SAID TAPE HOLDER TO SAID LOWER CORNER BRACKET, MEANS ADJUSTABLY FASTENING THE UPPER END OF SAID TAPE HOLDER TO THE UPPER CORNER BRACKET, POINTERS CARRIED BY SAID LINE HOLDING MEMBERS AND MOVABLE OVER A COURSING TAPE ON SAID TAPE HOLDER, AND AN ANCHOR WIRE KEEPER ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON THE LOWER BRACKET. 